It would seem a relatively simpler matter to stretch a thin mylar membrane over a frame, like a drum head, apply a partial vacuum to introduce the basic curvature and then control the surface with a combination of loudspeaker-like actuators, operating at frequencies designed to create standing waves of arbitrary shape according to the needs of an adaptive optics control system.
This would have the advantages: lightweight, easy to assemble, use of off-the-shelf speaker technology, very high response time, relatively low power requirements, etc.
What's not to like?
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It would seem a relatively simpler matter to stretch a thin mylar membrane over a frame, like a drum head, apply a partial vacuum to introduce the basic curvature and then control the surface with a combination of loudspeaker-like actuators, operating at frequencies designed to create standing waves of arbitrary shape according to the needs of an adaptive optics control system. This would have the advantages: lightweight, easy to assemble, use of off-the-shelf speaker technology, very high response time, relatively low power requirements, etc. What's not to like?
As Norman O. Brown may have put it...."Is it polymorphically perverse?"